Treatment of tobacco



Feb. 10, 1970 D. MAGUIRE TREATMENT OF TOBACCO 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 29, 1967 Inventor DONALD MAG'UIRE Feb. 10, 1910' D. MAG-UIRE 3,494,367

TREATMENTQF TOBACCO Filed Nov. 29, 1967 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 In venlor momma MAeuiRE B g A llomeyg D. MAGUIRE TREATMENT OF TOBACCO Feb. 10, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 29, 1967 Inventor s W 1 U. G\ A. m D L A N O D a. tates Patent Olfice 3,494,367 Patented Feb. 10, 1970 3,494,367 TREATMENT OF TOBACCO Donald Maguire, 29 Chestnut Way, Repton, Derbyshire, England Filed Nov. 29, 1967, Ser. No. 686,491 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Dec. 1, 1966, 53,747/ 66 Int. Cl. A2411 3/02, 3/06 US. Cl. 131l35 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In the treatment of hogsheads, bales or cases of tobacco these are carried by a conveyor to a treatment zone where a curtain of recirculated air is discharged across the leading end of the leading hogshead or bale along with jets of steam and/or water. At the same time rotating strippers strip off the layers of tobacco from the leading edge and deposit it on an elevator. The flow of moistureladen air then traverses the layers received by the elevator in its return path in a direction generally parallel with the elevator travel.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A conveyor is arranged to carry hogsheads, bales or cases of tobacco to a treatment zone, a fan unit is mounted to discharge a current of air downwards across the leading edge of the leading hogshead or the like, while jets of steam and/or water are discharged against the said leading edge, rotors being mounted in front of the leading edge of the leading hogshead or the like, the rotors being rotated so that members attached to them engage with the layers of tobacco which are subjected to the treatment of the air and steam and/or water and strip them from the hogshead or the like in a loosened condition separated from the hogshead or the like.

This invention relates to the treatment of tobacco.

The invention is related to that described in the specification of my prior US. Patent No. 3,357,437.

The prior invention consists in a process by which a particular surface layer of a hogshead parallel with the laminations of the leaf is subjected to a moist air stream or streams which not only acts to restore the moisture content to that surface layer but also acts or assists to strip, peel off, or withdraw leaf from that surface of the hogshead so that the leaf in the entire hogshead is progressively moistened and unpacked in a single continuous process. The prior invention also consists in an apparatus having a moving support for the hogsheads and a chamber or casing in suitable positional relationship with the support, together with means for supplying moist air or steam to the chamber or casing and creating movement of that air tending to strip, peel off or withdraw leaf from a particular surface of the hogshead parallel with the laminations of the leaf. A mechanical stripping device could be provided to assist in removing the surface layer, for instance a timed scraper or wiper.

According to the present invention means are provided whereby a flow of air at a suitable temperature has incorporated with it steam and atomized water and the mixture is forced downwards across the surface layer of the tobacco parallel with the laminations of the leaf and is then returned forwardly and upwardly in contact with the leaf which has been acted on by a mechanical stripping device, the mixture being returned at the top to a highvelocity fan and pump unit incorporating a steam valve and atomized water spray nozzles.

Preferably an elevator is provided by which the leaf peeled or stripped from the hogshead is carried forward and the return upward flow of the air mixture is mainly made in a direction generally parallel with the travel of the elevator so that the loose leaf is subjected to it.

Preferably one or more transverse rotors acting as mechanical stripping devices are mounted in close proximity to the elevator serving further to gently separate the leaf and allow for its more complete conditioning at the final stage.

The steam valve may be thermostatically controlled and the pump unit may be arranged to supply water at uniform pressure to the atomized spray nozzles which inject the water into the air stream continuously at a low controlled temperature providing a fog-mist.

The hogshead, case or bale thus receives a high velocity jet of conditioned air at the point where the leaf is being separated from the bale.

A constructional form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus as a whole.

FIGURE 2 is a plan.

FIGURE 3 is a part sectional side elevation of the stripper portion of the apparatus.

FIGURE 4 is a part section on line IV-IV of FIG- URE 3.

A conveyor 10 carries hogsheads, bales or cases of tobacco leaf 11 along to a position indicated at 1111 where the leaf is peeled or stripped off from the end face of the package 11 so that it falls on to an elevator 12 which carries the loose leaf through its final conditioning chamber. Two mechanical stripping or separating devices, indicated generally at 13, 14 are provided, positioned to act on the leaf as it is peeled off the hogshead, case or bale. These mechanical stripping devices, as illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, are in the form of rotor cages, their axes being horizontal. They each comprise a central shaft 16 having radial spokes 17 carrying bars or blades 18 extending along the whole length of the cages, but in at least one of the rotor cages the bars are not all parallel and horizontal; some of them are set in inclined positions as shown at 18a, FIGURE 4. There may be two or more sets of bars on one or more of the cages mounted at different radial distances from the central shaft. The bars are of a corrugated or wavy shape and the peaks of the corrugations are desirably staggered from bar to bar so that there is a gradual helical progression of the peaks around the circumference of the rotor cages. The cages 13, 14 are rotated by chains 20 and sprockets 21 from the conveyor and elevator drive mechanism or from separate motors 22. The fan 24, pump unit 25, main steam valve 26 and atomized water spray 27 are housed as a unit over where the leaf is removed from the hogshead cases or bales as they come through a pre-conditioning or warming zone represented by the casing 28 in order that the leaf can be removed and elevated. The water supply tank is indicated at 30, flow-meter at 31 and thermometer at 32. The steam supply comprises a temperature-regulated supply at 34 under the control of a thermostatic valve 35 having a control bulb 36, and there is also a manually operated steam spray 37. Some of the conditioned moistened warm air may be allowed to pass along the pre-conditioning/warming zone 28 and circulate around and possibly to some extent through the packed leaf 11 before being drawn back to the overhead fan 24, but in some cases, or applications, a separate air circulation fan to circulate conditioned air around the bales, hogsheads or cases, during pre-conditioning or warming stage will be provided. The elevator 12 extends upwards and at its higher end a rotary refuser rake 40 is operated to limit the amount of product which can pass under it and thus leave the elevator and pass into a final conditioning chamber where further atomized fog mist sprays may be directed on to it.

In operation the conveyor 10 brings the hogsheads or the like 11 into the treatment zone 28 and as shown in FIGURE 3 the leading hogshead has its leading end subjected to the peeling or Stripping action. This leading end is subjected to a curtain of air discharged down its face from the fan unit 24 as indicated by the arrows. At the same time water is fed from the tank 30 by means of the pump 25 under the control of the flow-meter 31 and issues through the atomized sprays 27 situated at a level intermediate between the upper and lower rotor cages 13, 14. Excess water is returned to the tank by way of a relief valve 41 which can be adjusted to regulate the pressure of the sprays at 27. In addition to the air flow and the water sprays, steam at a temperature controlled by the control bulb 36 is directed across the face of the tobacco by the sprays 34, see especially FIGURE 4 and by the manually controlled steam spray 37. Thus as the tobacco is progressively peeled off from the leading end of the hogshead or the like it is subjected to these combined air, water and steam treatments, and is finally deposited on to the elevator 12 which carries out of the treatment zone 28, and under the rake 40.

1 claim:

1. Apparatus for the treatment of tobacco from solid packages such as bales, comprising means defining a treatment zone, a conveyor leading to the treatment zone, a fan unit disposed to blow a curtain of air at a suitable temperature from the upper part of the treatment zone downwards across the surface layer of the tobacco at the leading end of and parallel with the laminations of the leaf in the bale to remove such surface layers from the bale, means for directing steam at the tobacco so that it is incorporated with the curtain of air to produce moistureladen air, a second conveyor positioned to receive tobacco leaf as it is removed from the leading end of the bale,.and means for causing the flow of moisture-laden air which has acted upon the bale to traverse the leaf received by the second conveyor in its return path in a direction generally parallel with at least a portion of the travel of the second conveyor and thence back to the fan unit.

Cir

2. Apparatus for the treatment of tobacco as claimed in claim 1 wherein said steam and water directing means comprises a thermostatically controlled valve controlling the steam supply, atomizing spray nozzles in said treatment zone, and a pump unit arranged to supply water at controlled pressure to said spray nozzles, so that by the combined action of the fan unit, steam and water, the tobacco receives a high velocity jet of conditioned air at the point where the leaf is being separated from the bale.

3. Apparatus for the treatment of tobacco as claimed in claim 1 having at least one rotatable stripping device mounted transversely across the treatment zone, said stripping device comprising a plurality of blades extending in a generally horizontal direction, the device being so positioned that the blades will act upon the leading end of the package and so assist in removing tobacco leaf therefrom, and means for imparting rotation to the stripping device, said stripping device comprising at least one other blade which extends in an inclined direction.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said plurality of blades comprise blades which are of a wavy form, having peaks which are arranged in staggered relationship from one blade to the next, said peaks being arranged to form a gradual helical progression around the circumference of the stripping device.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,767,717 10/1956 Schlossmacher 131136 2,869,556 1/1959 Rowell 131135 3,125,231 3/1964 Mortland 131l49 X 3,357,437 12/1967 Maguire 131-136 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,127,264 4/1962 Germany. 1,157,122 11/1963 Germany.

ALDRICH F. MEDBERY, Primary Examiner J. H. CZERWONKY, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 13l136, 149 

